How to use YouNow, the livestreaming app that teens are obsessed with

Vanessa and Veronica Merrell, teenage twins who landed a role on the CW's Jane the Virgin after becoming YouNow stars.The Merrell Twins

There's no shortage of livestreaming apps, but there's one that teens are clamoring to: YouNow.

YouNow's founder, Adi Sideman, told us earlier this year that 70% of YouNow's users are under the age of 24 and that the platform has 100 million user sessions a month, with about 150,000 broadcasts daily. It's the 34th most popular social networking app in the world right now, according to App Annie.

The four-year-old streaming startup also recently raised a $15 million round of funding.

The interaction between performers and their audiences is what sets YouNow apart from other buzzy livestreaming services such as Periscope or Meerkat. The average mobile session length on YouNow is about six minutes. The average mobile broadcast length is about 18 minutes.

If you still can't quite wrap your head around what YouNow is, Sideman put it best:

"It's a global platform for self-expression," he said. "It's like YouTube, but live. The secret sauce is that it's all about the audience. And the audience feels like even though it's a one-to-many, it feels like a one-to-one interaction."

We've put together a quick guide on how to use YouNow. It's fairly straightforward and intuitive — moreso than apps like Snapchat — but it's still riddled with nuances a first-time user wouldn't necessarily pick up on.

This is what you see when you first open YouNow. Last year, Vine star Shawn Mendes released a single on YouNow. Tumblr star and internet personality Tyler Oakley raised half a million dollars on the crowdfunding website Prizeo for The Trevor Project, a charity that raises awareness for LGBT youths at risk of suicide, and linked to his YouNow account in a sort of modern-day telethon.

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When you open up the app and sign up, you'll be prompted to pick some categories you're interested in, so you're shown relevant streams.

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When you start watching a lifestream, you can participate with other users in the group chat.

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Just a few of YouNow's popular channels: musicians, art, pets, and singing.

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One of the weirder parts of YouNow is a section called #sleepingsquad. As the name suggests, it literally consists of users live streaming themselves sleeping. Still, people tune in to watch and even participate in the group chat while the host sleeps.

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The #truthordare tag is also super popular, and the users on YouNow keep it super G-rated. Safety is obviously a huge issue, especially given YouNow's young user base; YouNow has a team of content moderators who monitor both the YouNow app and the website for abuse.

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Each YouNow broadcast has two main features: a window where the broadcaster livestreams himself or herself, and a chat window, where users interact with broadcasters. YouNow lets its users buy into a currency called Bars. It lets users buy virtual goods — 50 thumbs up, for example — that they can give to their favorite broadcaster to help them trend. They can also pay to send messages to YouNowers that get sent to the top of the chat window, so both the YouNower and the rest of the viewers see it.

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On the upper left-hand corner, you can see how long a user has been streaming. In the upper-right hand corner, you can see how many people are watching.

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One fascinating part of YouNow's app is the "Advice" section. People take questions live from their fans and followers, doling out advice on camera.

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You can "like" a performance, which helps your favorite livestreamers trend. Interactivity is a huge component of YouNow — it makes you feel like you're actually connecting with the quasi-celebrity you're watching.

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Users can also give gifts to their favorite performers, who are like celebrities on the app and in the eyes of their fans. YouNow makes money by taking a cut of users' in-app purchases every time someone buys "bars," the virtual currency used to tip their favorite performers. You can also use virtual coins to send interactive goodies, like the animations below, to a performer. The more you interact with the app, the more coins you're given to use.

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Musician MrMoomtastic just got a tip from a fan. YouNow's partner program lets broadcasters make money, and Sideman said many of them report making more on YouNow than on YouTube.

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The more time you spend on the app, the more your recommended videos become tailored to your taste. Spend enough time on YouNow, and you'll start to recognize the YouNow-famous performers.